


As Long as You're Safe

by Rose_gold_goddess



Series: So Take My Heart, It's All That's Left [5]
Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Another Story (Mystic Messenger), Another Story Spoilers (Mystic Messenger), Because that boy deserves it, Escape, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, MC is an OC, Mild Language, POV Original Female Character, Regret, Self-Blame, Taking Care of V, V | Kim Jihyun's Route, like always, smol angst, smol fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 16:20:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17922203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rose_gold_goddess/pseuds/Rose_gold_goddess
Summary: “I’m sorry, I need to protect you but...right now my body just won’t cooperate,” he sighed.“So let me take care of you,” she told him.





	As Long as You're Safe

**Author's Note:**

> Still writing out all of these V feels because wow is this route a wild ride. Also V desperately needs some hurt/comfort so...ta da! MC as usual is named and described.
> 
>    
> Chloe:  
> 

After the screams that had pierced her ears, the sound of just their heavy breathing, twigs and leaves crunching under foot, and V’s continued mumbling all seemed like silence comparatively. Her ankle was aching painfully from the way it had twisted when she nearly tripped, but she didn’t let herself falter in her steps. Despite the difficulty of running in the ridiculous heels Rika had given her with the blue chiffon dress, she was determined to keep up with their rescuer.

On 707’s back, V’s head lolled and he continued murmuring indistinct questions and protests. He was clearly not in his right mind, and the fear she felt that he might not make it spurred her on. They had to get him to safety, had to get him to a doctor - but most of all they all needed to get out of here safely.

“It’s here - just over here,” Seven hissed, slowing as he led the way to a path off the road.

“Chloe...Chloe…”

“I’m - I’m here, V, we’re almost safe,” Chloe whispered, trying to stifle the gasps of air she tried to gulp in even as her lungs seared.

A glint of silver caught her eye from between the trees, and Seven led the way to the car waiting for them. He opened the back door and Chloe hurried forward, helping steady V as Seven set him on his feet.

V collapsed against her and she nearly stumbled, her ankle protesting as she tightened her hold around his waist. “V - just for a moment, please stand - please,” she begged in a whisper. “I need to get you in the car.”

“C-car? Chloe - safe. Must...keep...Chloe…”

“I’m safe - I’m safe, V,” she assured him, hoping if she convinced him he might cooperate with her. She struggled slightly under his weight, but held fast to his waist as she tried to guide him into the backseat.

“Hurry!” Seven insisted.

“I am. V - please,” she murmured, placing a hand on his head to keep it from hitting the door frame.

He finally bent and folded himself, slumping into the backseat so that she could close the door after him. She quickly circled to the other side and got in, and the moment her door slammed Seven stepped on the gas and sped out onto the road. V slid to the side with the sudden motion and Chloe reached for him, guiding him to lay down with his head resting in her lap.

“It’s okay,” she whispered to him. She placed one hand on his chest, brushing his hair off his forehead with her other. He was sweating profusely, his brows furrowed in pain as he groaned. “You’ll be okay, we’ll - Seven, I think we need to get him to a hospital -”

“I know, I know!” Seven snapped, and he glanced over his shoulder. “Shit - what did they do to him?”

“I - I don’t know. I think maybe he was drugged,” Chloe answered, biting back the fear and trying to keep her mind clear. Level, focused - he needed her, she couldn’t let her fear overwhelm her.

“Obviously,” Seven agreed as he returned his attention to his driving, still expertly speeding along the winding road, the trees lining it a blur beyond the window. “You don’t know how much?”

“No, I didn’t see,” Chloe answered. She chewed her lip, still working to steady herself as she combed her fingers through the damp strands of V’s hair.

“Just what the hell was going on back there?” Seven cried, but it almost sounded rhetorical, as if he was just venting his shock at the air.

“Chloe...water…” V gasped, his rasping breaths catching in his throat as he let out another grunt of pain.

“S-Seven did you bring any water?” Chloe asked, tearing her gaze away from the scowl on V’s face. Seven gestured behind him with a jerk of one hand, keeping his eyes focused on the road, and Chloe followed the motion. There were two bottles of water on the floor and she leaned forward to grab one, her hair trailing across V’s face as she did.

He blinked and turned his bleary mint gaze to hers, frowning slightly as if seeing her for the first time. “Chloe...Chloe?”

“I’m here, V,” she assured him, cupping his cheek with her hand as she offered him a small smile. His skin was burning up, glistening with sweat, and she rubbed a soft circle with her thumb on his cheekbone before removing her hand. Turning her attention to the water bottle she worked quickly to open it, aware of his eyes fixed on her the entire time. “Here.”

She placed a hand behind his head and lifted him so that she could guide the water to his lips, cooing for him to take it slow.

“What - where…?”

“Seven has us,” she answered the whispers, watching as his brows furrowed in pain and confusion once more.

“Lu-Luciel?”

“And not a moment too soon,” Seven chimed in. “I need to pull over up here. I have to tell Jumin and Jaehee - they have to know what happened.”

“I could log in too.”

“No, I need to -”

“Wait -” V tried to sit up as he protested, but Chloe placed a hand on his chest, trying to encourage him to resume his place in her lap.

“Rest,” she insisted, but he still tried to push himself up.

With a groan he fell back onto the seat once more, eyes clenched tight in pain and she remembered what Jumin had told her. She smoothed a hand across his forehead, rubbing at his brow with her thumb as if she could ease the aching if she only tried hard enough.

“V, please -”

“Chloe, are you - are you all right?” V asked, opening his eyes once more to look up at her.

“You should worry about yourself, n-not me,” she chided, fighting the way her voice shook. His was so weak, even though he seemed slightly more coherent at the moment. It did little to help her worry.

Seven slowed the car and parked, grabbing a phone from beside him as he turned to face the backseat, glaring at V as he did. But he shook his head as he began to type furiously, and she knew he had to be in the messenger making his status report to the others. She let him handle it, focusing instead on soothing V, still running her fingers through his hair.

The click of a photo being taken made her glance up, but Seven hardly looked at her as he resumed typing out messages. She returned her attention to V, his body still shaking and brows knitted together as he stared up at her.

“It’s all right, we’ll get you to a hospital,” she murmured, stroking his hair.

“N-no, Luciel,” he turned his head and cleared his throat. After another gasp he tried again. “Luciel - no hospital. We can’t -”

“What do you mean? You need a doctor, now -”

“Luciel -”

The two began arguing, V struggling to push himself up as he insisted they not involve any authorities. Seven seemed flabbergasted by the refusal, pushing back and raising his voice as he continued to demand answers. Chloe tried to keep V from straining himself, reaching for his shoulders and working to encourage him to lie back once more.

“Seven!” she finally interrupted, raising her voice over the other two. “V needs to get comfortable, and we need to get off the road and safe. Now.”

Seven’s mouth snapped shut, glaring at the pair in the backseat for a moment before he turned a critical stare to Chloe. “V, she’s on our side, right?”

V turned his gaze to Chloe as he nodded. “Yes, Luciel. She’s innocent. We can trust her,” he asserted firmly.

“Please, Seven - we need to get him somewhere where he can rest,” Chloe insisted.

“Fine,” Seven muttered, and he faced forward in his seat once more so that he could start the car.

“V, please lie back,” Chloe cooed, pulling him to her once more.

“I was so worried about you,” he breathed as he settled back, grimacing again. “Ever since I had to leave you there…”

“It’s all right, I’m fine now,” she told him. She wiped the sweat from his forehead and offered him a smile. “Thank you for keeping your promise to me. I knew you would.”

V closed his eyes, releasing a deep sigh before he murmured, “I’m sorry.”

Chloe shook her head and quietly shushed him, wishing she could assure him that she didn’t blame him. They were on their way to safety, and he didn’t need to be feeling guilty in addition to being drugged.

“V, please - you came back for me,” she whispered. “You kept your promise.”

He reached with a shaking hand to where hers rested on his chest and patted it softly. “It was - my fault. I’m so sorry, please - I hope you’re - all right.”

“I’m worried about you, but I’m fine,” she assured him. She turned her hand in his and squeezed his fingers, but the contact seemed to surprise him and he gently pulled his fingers from hers.

Despite the way it made her heart ache to see, she contented herself with doing what she could to make him comfortable, giving him water when he asked and wiping his sweat-covered brow. They continued to almost fly down the highway, Seven expertly handling the sharp curves and turns the same as Jaehee had said he had the day before in the chatroom. But Chloe hardly noticed, instead focused intently on V’s groans, wishing she could do something to take his pain away.

When Seven finally slowed on an almost overgrown path far off the main roads Chloe looked up, realizing they must be close to the hideout he had mentioned. As soon as he turned off the engine he hopped out of the car, hurrying to open the door to help V out.

“Hurry in, we shouldn’t stay outside,” Seven instructed. “I’ve got him if you can help me with the door…”

Chloe rushed to the door, catching the keys Seven threw at her so that she could fumble with the lock in the meager moonlight overhead. Once she had managed to open the door she slid her hand along the wall, searching out a lightswitch, but Seven pushed past her without waiting for light. She hurried forward to take V’s other arm around her shoulders, helping lead him to the sofa in the middle of the room.

“This is good enough for now,” Seven muttered as he gently pushed V back onto the cushions.

“Help me get him out of the robes - are there blankets here?” Chloe asked, struggling with the laces on V’s shoes so that she could pull them off.

Together she and Seven tried to situate V comfortably, and as she hurried to the kitchen off the main room to grab a bowl to fill with water she could hear Seven speaking quietly with V.

“I need to set up off - I’ll be over here, I need to focus,” Seven muttered when she returned to the sofa. “Can you -”

“I’ll take care of him, you focus on your work,” Chloe assured him.

Seven hesitated for only a moment, glancing at V with a frown before he walked away.

Chloe set the bowl and rag on the floor beside the sofa, shaking out a few blankets nearby to tuck around V’s shivering body. She grimaced as she sank to her knees, the twinging in her ankle finally rearing its ugly head now that her nerves were calming slightly.

“You’re - you’re limping,” V murmured.

“I’m fine,” she told him, offering a smile as she tried to brush off the worry in his tone.

“Did you get hurt?”

“Please don’t worry about me,” Chloe insisted. She did her best to hide the groan that came to her as she flexed her ankle, but a glance at V told her it hadn’t gone unnoticed. Ignoring the scowl on his face she undid the straps on the heels and slid them off, her feet aching sharply as they flattened on the wood floor at last.

“Chloe -”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Are you - are you safe? I couldn’t check back there, I was so out of my mind, and you look hurt -”

“I’m safe, I’m here with you,” she answered. She met his gaze and smiled, reaching over to feel his forehead. “You’re clammy and hot. Shit, what was in that drug?” She removed her hand from his forehead and instead wet the cloth she had grabbed and began to dab at his face.

“You don’t have to,” V muttered. He raised a shaking hand from beneath the blanket, weakly trying to push her hand away from his face. “I don’t deserve - I’ll be fine -”

“V, stop it,” she scolded, avoiding his attempts to brush her away. “Your hands are shaking, you’re weak. Let me take care of you.”

“Don’t deserve...I’ll be okay, this is nothing,” he breathed. “As long as you’re safe, I’m -”

“You’re not fine, now be quiet and rest,” she insisted. She resumed wiping his face with the cloth, dipping it once more before wringing it out.

“I’m so sorry.”

Chloe met his pale gaze, holding it for a moment before she shook her head and delicately ran her fingertips over his cheek. “You don’t need to apologize,” she assured him. “You kept your promise to me, we’re - we’re safe. Together.”

“I hope nobody gets hurt, especially you.” His voice was weak and he groaned in pain, clenching his eyes for a moment before he sought her gaze again. “I’ll do anything to keep you safe...I’ll protect you, no matter what it takes.”

Another groan interrupted his words, and Chloe resumed running the cold cloth along his skin. “V, please rest -”

“I’m sorry, I need to protect you but...right now my body just won’t cooperate,” he sighed.

“So let me take care of you,” she told him.

“I’m sorry you have to see this. I only wish to show you good things...then you’ll feel safe.”

“Rest, V,” she cooed again. “Here - I’ll hold your hand, so you know you’re not alone. Let me look after you.”

“Could you do that?” V asked, turning a slightly surprised frown to her. His eyes searched her face for a moment before he held out his hand. She took it in hers, squeezing it reassuringly and stroking the back of his hand with her thumb. “Thank you, Chloe.”

Silence passed as he stared at where she held his hand, his clammy, trembling fingers tightening on hers briefly.

“How surprising, I - I feel a little safer...holding your hand.” He sighed, closing his eyes, the furrow of his brows lessening slightly.

“I’ll hold it all night, V,” she whispered, cupping his hand with both of hers, the cloth she’d held lying forgotten in the bowl. “I’m not going anywhere.”

How long she sat beside the sofa, her gaze fixed on him as she memorized the lines and curves of his face she wasn’t sure. When he stirred and fussed in his troubled sleep she murmured soft assurances to him until he quieted again. Her own aches and pains didn’t matter, despite the way her ankle throbbed and her back hurt from how she was seated on the floor. The nearby fire Seven had lit kept the chill away, the full skirt of her dress spread around her as a puddle of shimmering blue.

She wasn’t aware of the picture Seven took when he happened to look in on them, or the sounds of the night beyond the cabin walls. All she knew was the ragged sound of V’s breathing and the way his brows furrowed, the soft sigh that slipped from his throat when she brushed her fingers through his hair or wiped his skin with the cool cloth. And still she held his hand tightly, hoping that he continued to feel safe and comforted by its constant presence.


End file.
